


A Bitty Escape

by PineconeTrinklebriar



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bittybones (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Mobfell (Undertale), Escaped lab specimens, F/F, Hiding out in a small town, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Injury, Kidnapping, M/M, Medical Trauma, Off-screen Character Death, Offered Prostitution, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prejudice Against Monsters (Undertale), Running From The Mob, Science Experiments, Shooting Guns, more tags will be added as we go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 68
Words: 16,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28493043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PineconeTrinklebriar/pseuds/PineconeTrinklebriar
Summary: Sans just wanted to work his way up through the ranks of biologists--maybe win a Nobel, wouldn't that be neat--and make sure his kid brother can do whatever he wants with his life. Too bad that all of that goes out the window when one late night in the lab and an unfortunate amount of curiosity leads him to discover that his boss is making tiny monsters to use as lab specimens. Now Sans and his brother are on the run from both CORE labs and the monster mob with four snarky lab specimens that look just like him and have superpowers somehow?In the vein of Catistta's 100 Daily Drabble works, this is a story that is told (a maximum of) 250 words at a time and is updated daily. It's best enjoyed in full work mode.
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Sans/Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 216
Kudos: 139





	1. Chapter One

Sans never really expected to go into biology. He started as a physics man, looking up at the stars in wonder, but then he took a cellular biology elective in college and well. He found a new love, one that was closer than the stars billions of light-years away.

‘Course, it was harder to be a big name biologist than physicist. If you wanted to be a big deal in the field, you had to do Nobel-worthy work, and even then you probably wouldn’t get much recognition. That’s what led him to pull these stupid hours trying to connect human understanding of cells and DNA with the composition of monster bodies. Luckily, Sans had magic reserves out to wazoo so he had plenty of magic to experiment with.

The latest batch didn’t set any better than any of the others and Sans scrubbed his face in frustration. Another week of work in the trash. He sighed and began packing up to leave when he heard a small, perilous noise from further into the labs. He followed it, surprised to see his boss’s light on, and equally surprised to hear angry voices talking inside. He crept closer and heard the noise again: there was something in the animal cages stacked against the walls. 

He peeked inside and his eye lights guttered out at what he saw: four tiny monsters, each the size of a can of soda, that all looked suspiciously like him.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's no going back now. Well, unless teleportation is involved, apparently.

Later, Sans wouldn’t be able to say exactly what he was thinking when he scooped those four monsters out of the cage and into his bag. All he knew was that he couldn’t leave them there; their scars made it evident that they weren’t just hanging out for fun. Why did they look just like him? How did they exist? He didn’t know, but he did know he couldn’t leave them there.  
He ran out into the main hallway, making his way towards the exit of the building. He wasn’t sure what the plan was, just that he had to get out of the building. He made it out to the parking lot and was unlocking his car when he felt magic shift behind him. He turned around and nearly bumped into a large barrel chest of a monster far larger than himself. He gulped and looked up into the face of a skeleton monster with pointy teeth; it actually looked a lot like one of the tiny monsters currently in his bag.  
“where ya goin’ in a hurry?” the skeleton growled.  
“home? finished up my shift,” Sans said.  
The skeleton laughed, a cruel sound, and grabbed Sans’s shoulder with a grip so tight that it ached. “that right? then yer wouldn’ mind comin’ inside wit’ me?”  
Sans swallowed. “i, uh, need to get home.”  
“wasn’ askin’ sweetcheeks.”  
The world fell away from Sans as he was yanked into a cold darkness.


	3. Chapter Three

Impossibly, he found himself back in the lab instantly. He was surprised to see two familiar monsters standing there, too: his boss, a bunny that insisted everyone call him Jim, and Dr. Dings, the head scientist of CORE. He gaped openly at them both. At least Jim had the sense to look chagrined. 

His captor pushed him forward and Sans staggered a bit, clutching his messenger bag to himself. The little monsters inside didn’t make a sound, which made Sans figure they were definitely somewhat intelligent.

“Mr. Serif! How good it is to see you again,” Dr. Dings said, his voice conveying exactly the opposite of that sentiment. “I believe you have something that belongs to us.”

“us?” the huge skeleton said. “ya mean the gasters.”

“Yes, yes. Now, Mr. Serif, the bag please?” Sans held the bag tighter and looked hopefully at Jim. Dr. Dings chuckled. “My boy, Dr. Bundt will not help you here. Just hand over the specimens and we will not have any problems.”

“specimens? that what we’re callin’ livin’ monsters now?” Sans asked.

The other skeleton monster laughed. “boy, ya really don’ know who yer messin’ wit’, do ya?”

“i don’t care,” Sans spat back. “whoever you are, it’s wrong to experiment on sentient beings! how’d you even get them? why do they look like me?” He glanced over at the huge skeleton. “and him, i guess?”

“We had to get magic somewhere,” Dr. Dings said with a shrug.


	4. Chapter Four

Sans’s eye lights shrank. “you  _ stole _ my magic? from my lab? and used it to… what?”

The other skeleton laughed (again). “dings, we hire idiots here now? this one jus’ ain’ too bright. he’s sure pretty though.” Sans shuddered as the huge skeleton licked his teeth with a conjured bright red tongue, then laughed and held out his huge mit. “jus’ hand ‘em over.”

“no,” Sans said, a little weaker this time. He wasn’t a strong monster, he knew that, and he’d never win a fight if they decided to force the issue.

The skeleton laughed and gave Sans a shove, simultaneously yanking the bag out of his hands. “hey!” Sans yelped. “don’t!”

The skeleton completely ignored him in favor of yoinking open the bag. He fished out four tiny monsters, each looking up at him with bright eye lights. The one that looked exactly like Sans just looked apathetic, like he simply didn’t care what happened. One with purple eye lights and pointy shark teeth was positioned in front of the smallest one. The one with red eye lights, which looked exactly like the huge skeleton holding them, stepped in front of all of them and puffed up his chest. “put us down!” he yelled, his voice deep for such a small thing. They all fit in the palm of his hand.

The skeleton’s crimson eye lights shrank when he saw them. “why the hell this one look like me?” he snarled.


	5. Chapter Five

Dr. Dings sighed. “It’s doctor. And we needed a variety of test subjects for the mod--”

“ya got a variety without makin’ a tiny me!” the huge skeleton snarled. 

“‘m not ya!” his tiny mirror squeaked. “‘m nothin’ like ya!” The poor guy had tears gathering in his sockets. 

The other laughed harshly. “i’ll agree wit’ that. ‘m not a crybaby for starters.”

While he was listening to the back and forth, two realizations hit Sans like a train. First, he’d seen this skeleton before. He was a member of the Gaster family, one of the crime families that ruled Ebbott. That led to his second revelation: he would not be walking out of this lab alive. The only way he was leaving was in a dust pan. He tried to swallow back the fear that was blossoming in his chest, but he was just a doctoral student working in a lab! He wasn’t some kind of hero, wasn’t special in any way. He was just an idiot that wandered into the middle of something he never should’ve seen, and now he was going to die for it.

He let his mind wander to his brother for a moment, wondering what Paps would think happened to him. Hopefully they’d at least come up with a good story, one that wouldn’t make his too-smart-for-his-own-good brother look too deeply into this.

He never wanted Papyrus to see the red eye lights and the pointy teeth of the devil in front of him.


	6. Chapter Six

Sans was pretty much resigned to his fate when he noticed that the other little monsters, the ones that weren’t the red-eyed one, were slowly backing up off of the gangster’s palm. He was too distracted screaming at his mini-me to pay attention to them. Sans blinked in surprise as the other three all grabbed hold of each other and the one with blue eye lights crouched down…

… And jumped higher into the air than such a small thing should’ve been able to, especially with two others holding onto it. They soared through the air and caught hold of Sans’s jacket. “Now!” one of them yelled, and the red-eyed monster was suddenly flying towards them, too. Sans caught him out of reflex, pulling the tiny monster to his chest. “Three, do it!” a little voice cried, and Sans was swallowed by cold and dark…

… Then he was outside, kneeling behind a bush. “uh,” he managed. “what…?”

“shut up!” one of the little voices said.

Sans obeyed and was instantly thankful. He heard a loud pop and Gaster was standing in front of their bush, only yards away. The hulking monster was cursing under his breath, spinning around and scanning the area. He didn’t notice them somehow and disappeared in another pop.

“recharged yet, three?” Sans's tiny double whispered.

“yeah,” the little red monster answered. He sounded tired.

“Get us further away then, whelp,” commanded the blue-eyed one.

The cold darkness swallowed Sans again.


	7. Chapter Seven

The pauses between teleports (because, as impossible as it was, that had to be what it was, right?) got longer and longer and, before long, the red monster was asleep. Sans found himself beside a dumpster in a dark alley, the smell of rotting garbage washing over him.

Upon inspection, only two of the monsters  _ really _ looked like him. There was one that was nearly identical, with white eye lights and all. The other was the one with blue eye lights that made the incredible jump in the lab. The other two looked more like Gaster; the sleeping one his near double and the other with a similar build but purple eye lights rather than red. None of them wore any clothing, but it didn’t seem to particularly bother them.

“Well, that appears to be all Three can do just now,” the one with purple eye lights said. “You! Big monster! You need to continue with the escape before they find us.”

“really think it’ll matter?” Sans’s identical clone asked. “they’ll find us anywhere, ya know that.”

Purple eye lights huffed. “Well, then by all means, just give up.”

“No one is giving up!” Blue eye lights declared. He looked up at Sans. “I don’t like you and I don’t trust you, but I want to get out of here. Start walking, legs!”

Sans, unsure of what else to do, started walking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to make sure a few things were clear!  
> * We have four bitties: two that look like Sans (one with white eye lights and one with blue) and two that look like Red Gaster (one with red eye lights and one with purple).
> 
> * Sans cannot teleport in this universe. As far as he knew before this, NO ONE could teleport.
> 
> * Red eye lights is the bitty who can teleport. Red Gaster can also teleport.
> 
> * Blue eye lights can jump unnaturally high.
> 
> Okay, that's all! It's weird to only have a certain number of words, so I wanted to make sure those points got across, as they are prettttyyyyy important to the rest of the story.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little late posting on this one! I was unexpectedly out of town!

The first order of business was to make sure Paps was safe. Unfortunately, Sans’s cell phone was in the messenger bag that Gaster took from him, so simply calling him that way was out. What he really needed was a payphone. He bustled along the street, eye lights peeled for a way to reach his brother. The purple monster peeked its way out of his hoodie pocket, bright eye lights scanning the street.

“We need to leave town,” he said.

“not without my brother,” Sans answered.

The miniature monster seemed to mull over his response for a few minutes before saying, “Do you really think that they haven’t found your brother already? They know everything. They… They’re evil. They said they will find us, no matter where we go.”

Sans glanced down at him. “then maybe i should just cut you loose.”

“It would be in your best interest,” the purple monster agreed. Sans felt a small scuffle inside his hoodie pocket; the other little guys apparently didn’t appreciate Purple’s bluntness.

Sans huffed. “thought you wanted my long legs to help ya get somewhere safe.”

“I do! But… Well, you have already risked yourself for us. We… We have no means to repay you. What do you want from us?”

Sans paused. “nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“nothing. i’m just an idiot that stumbled into the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Then why help us?”

Why indeed.


	9. Chapter Nine

It was another three blocks before he found a payphone and dialed his brother’s number. It picked up on the second ring. “pap? listen, pack your stuff! we gotta go. i’ll explain later but--”

“sorry sweetheart, this ain’t yer bro.”

Sans felt his soul turn cold at the voice. It was that huge skeleton, the Gaster from the lab. With his brother’s phone. _Shit_. Sans decided to go with nonchalant. “uh, can i talk to him?”

A cold laugh. “howzabout ya come ‘ere an’ i letcha talk to ‘im. bring my stuff an’ you an’ yer bro won’ end up in a vacuum cleaner.”

Sans squeezed his sockets shut and tried to think. On one hand, he couldn’t just let this guy torture sentient beings for whatever crazy shit they were doing in the lab. On the other, he had Paps. Of course, the tiny monsters were his only bargaining chip; there was no reason for Gaster to let them go after he got his merchandise back.

“i come there and you let him go?” Sans asked.

“sure, dollface.”

“o-ok.”

Sans hung up the phone and met the four sets of eye lights looking into his. “whatcha gonna do?” his double asked.

“You know that ruffian will kill you if you give us to him,” Purple Eye Lights pointed out.

“i can’t just let ‘im hurt Pap.”

“Of course not,” Purple agreed. “It sounds like we need a plan, and luckily for you, I have one.”


	10. Chapter Ten

The apartment that Sans and Pap shared wasn’t nice by any stretch of the imagination. It was small and in a bad area and smelled like old socks, but it was theirs and they worked hard for it. Sans never felt particularly unsafe there but that didn’t mean he’d leave the door unlocked or anything.

He swallowed hard and adjusted his hoodie. The little purple-eyed monster (Four was his name apparently) was peeking out of one side of the pocket and the red-eyed one (Three) was peeking out the other. The other two were deeper in the pocket.

His door was unlocked, so he just shouldered it open and pushed his way inside. Papyrus was sitting too stiffly on the couch and Gaster was standing beside him, idly smoking a cigar. “can you not smoke in here?” Sans asked irritably. “we’ll never get the security deposit back.”

“SANS, ENOUGH OF YOUR JAPES!” Papyrus chided. Sans could see the sweat beaded on his skull.

“heh. yeh, sans, enough o’ yer japes,” Gaster said. “where’s my merchandise?”

“here.” Sans pulled Four out of his pocket and showed Gaster. 

He took another puff on his cigar and grinned. “‘ey there, little guy. time ta go home.”

“No thank you,” Four said.

Gaster started to answer but stopped when three skeletal dragons appeared, each the size of a housecat.


	11. Chapter 11

“We’re never going back to the lab,  _ Red _ ,” Four said. _“Ever.”_ The three dragons opened their mouths and fired blindingly white laser beams at  ~~ Gaster ~~ Red. The huge skeleton disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the apartment, but Sans didn’t miss the sweat on his forehead.

Served him right.

Sans grabbed his brother and felt that weird coldness again as Three teleported them. They didn’t go far; just to an empty apartment two floors down. There was no reason Red should know that, though. The four of them waited in silence, listening for any sign that the mobster had found them, but nothing came. Sans risked peeking out the window and saw the huge skeleton prowling down the street looking around bushes. If it hadn’t been such a deadly, life-threatening situation it would have been hilarious. He waited until he disappeared around the corner before he looked down at Four. “think we lost ‘im.”

“SANS,” Papyrus said slowly, “YOU KNOW I LOVE AND VALUE YOU AS A BROTHER, BUT WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON? WHY DID THAT VERY UNPLEASANT FRIEND OF YOURS JUST APPEAR IN OUR APARTMENT? HOW DID WE APPEAR AND DISAPPEAR DOWN HERE?”

Sans sighed. “uh, some stuff happened at the lab. i’ll tell you all about it, but we need to get somewhere safe first.”

“SAFE?”

“yeah, somewhere that he won’t find us.”

“SANS, WHAT HAVE YOU GOTTEN MIXED UP IN?” Papyrus asked.

Sans rubbed his forehead. What a fair but unanswerable question.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY! I apparently posted this as a draft yesterday and didn't figure it out until I was trying to post tonight's chapter! So... accidental two in one day, I guess?

Sans couldn’t believe that ‘Red’ didn’t find them, but nearly five hours of walking/shortcutting landed them in the bushes of a fast food joint a couple cities over. Paps was horrified by the surroundings--”SANS, HOW CAN ANYONE BE EXPECTED TO EAT IN A BUSH! WE ARE NOT PARK PIGEONS!”--but he still gobbled down his tots. The mini-monsters emerged from Sans’s pocket and all sat around on the rocks, each with their own burg. Three tried to sleep instead of eating, grousing that ‘shortcutting’ wore him out, but One and Four teamed up to force food down his gullet. Two busied himself with looking at Sans with as much hatred as his tiny face could muster. Kid’s blue pips didn’t even look at the burger while he ate it or his companions as they argued with Three, just kept staring right into Sans’s eye lights.

“what?” Sans finally snapped.

Two bared his teeth. “I’m always watching you, asshole.”

“LANGUAGE!” Papyrus cried. 

“What?” Two grumbled. “Got a problem, Noodle?”

“THAT’S VERY RUDE,” Papyrus said, “BUT I AM HONORED THAT YOU GAVE ME A NICKNAME! I SHALL WEAR IT WITH PRIDE!”

“It’s an insult, dumbass.”

“hey,” Sans growled. “i don’t care if you wanna mess with me, but be nice to my bro. he ain’t got nothin’ to do with this.”

“two,” One said, a low growl in his voice, his white eye lights flaring warningly.

Two didn’t say anything else, but his angry eye lights never left Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \+ We learned the bitties' names! ("Names" is a strong word for it, but here we are)  
> * One: white eye lights / Sans's double  
> * Two: blue eye lights (but no pointy teeth)  
> * Three: red's double (red eye lights, pointy teeth)  
> * Four: purple eye lights and pointy chompers


	13. Chapter 13

“Do you think they’ll really help us?” Four whispered when he was confident the Bigs were asleep. Last few dollars spent on the fast food dinner, they found themselves sleeping in a burrow under a dead tree.

One glanced at the huge version of himself. “not sure they can, bud. they don’t seem like they’re real fit to evade someone like red.”

Four huffed. “Then what do we do?”

“We leave them in their sleep, moron,” Two said, his blue eye lights little pinpricks of hate. “We can get much further on Three’s shortcuts if we leave the Bigs. You know they will sell us out the instant they get the chance.”

“Sans rescued us. Or did you forget that?” Four hissed. “If it were not for him, we’d still be in that lab! He saved us. It’s our fault they’re in this situation. He’d be safe if he just left.”

Two snorted. “And why do you think he did it? It’s because we look like him, not because he actually gives a shit about us. You’re morons and your idiocy is going to get us all killed.”

“why don’ you leave then?”

All three monsters startled at the sound. Three’s red eye lights burned furiously down at them from his perch on Sans’s chest. Two opened and closed his mouth a few times, then looked away. 

“‘s what i thought. go ta sleep.”

“You’ll see I’m right one day,” Two warned. “You’ll fuckin’ see.”

“shut yer mouth,” Three growled.


	14. Chapter 14

Morning came too early for Sans. There weren’t any room-darkening curtains to filter out the harsh sunlight and Papyrus wasn’t in the kitchen making breakfast. 

Because there wasn’t a kitchen.

They were sleeping in a hole.

Sans looked down at his chest and held in the groan at the sight of Three curled up on his chest like a kitten. “not made to be independent,” One had said. Dings apparently engineered them to require rest near a soul to recharge their magic.

_ Absolute bastard. _

“let’s get moving,” he moaned.

Everyone stirred. Papyrus sat up and looked around. “I SUPPOSE SLEEPING IN THIS CAVE WASN’T QUITE AS UNCOMFORTABLE AS I FEARED.” He rubbed at his vertebral column. “HOW DID YOU SLEEP, BROTHERS?”

“I’m not your brother,” Two snarled.

One leaned over and whapped the back of his head and then said, “fine, boss.”

The group shambled through another day much as they had the day before: shortcuts when Three could manage, walking with the tinies in Sans’s pockets when he couldn’t. They stuck to main roads, but inside the tree line so that they were hidden from any passerbys. As nightfall approached, they reached a small town that Sans’d never heard of. It was far from Ebbott, he knew that much.

“best find somewhere to bunker down,” Sans muttered. 

“Excuse me. Do you need somewhere to stay?” Sans spun and saw a young human woman smiling at him from under thick brown bangs. “I know a place.”


	15. Chapter 15

The woman--Liza, she said--led them to a large house with a wraparound front porch and a hand painted sign declaring it ‘Mama’s Place.’ Sans couldn’t say why he followed her, except that his feet hurt and he was tired. She showed them to a quaint upstairs bedroom.

“listen, we don’ have money,” Sans told her.

“That’s fine. Dinner’s at seven.” With that, she left.

Sans reached over and locked the door behind her before letting the monsters climb out of his pocket. They spread out on the frilly bedspread seeming to bask in its softness. 

“‘s nice,” Three yawned. “never had a bed.”

Papyrus’s eyes boggled out of his sockets. “NEVER HAD A BED?!”

“uh, lab rats don’ really get beds, bud,” One said. 

“why doncha get some sleep,” Sans said. “i’ll keep watch and wake everyone for dinner.”

Two narrowed his sockets at him. “I will be standing my own watch, whelp.”

“YOU SHOULD SLEEP INSTEAD, BROTHER,” Papyrus said. “YOUR HP--”

“is fine.”

“SANS--”

“don’ call me that here.”

Papyrus blinked and then nodded slowly. “WELL! THIS IS A LOVELY PLACE! WE WILL MAKE THE BEST OF IT!” He turned to the small monsters. “TOMORROW WE SHALL GET YOU SOME CLOTHES AND PROPER NAMES!”

“What do you mean ‘proper names’?” Two hissed.

“NUMBERS ARE NOT NAMES.”

“Oh, quiet down. You’ll wake Three,” Four said. “And clothes would be nice, though I do not think we should stay here long.”

“heh, well at least we agree on one thing.”


	16. Chapter 16

Sans never thought he’d long for a change of clothes, but three days (with one night sleeping on the ground) is a bit much, even for him. Nothing for it, so he brushed the dirt off and led Paps down for dinner. The littles hid themselves under the bed, just in case.

The dining room table was set for six. Liza wasn’t there yet, but a fish monster and a yellow lizard were. Both monsters smiled at them, one shyly and one brazenly.

“‘Sup bones?” the fish said.

“Dyna!” the lizard gasped. “Sorry, she can be so rude! I-I-I’m Alphys and this is Dyna.”

“WONDERFUL TO MEET YOU! I AM THE GREAT… STRETCH… AND THIS IS MY BROTHER, BLUE!” (Sans rolled his eyes at the fake names Paps and the littles picked out. So stupid. Least they didn’t go with Two’s choice of ‘idiot one’ and ‘mangy mutt’.)

Dyna snorted. “Stretch and Blue? What kinda names’re those?”

“Dyna!”

“Settle down, settle down,” a calming voice said from behind them. Sans turned to see a purple spider monster and Liza entering, each carrying covered dishes. The food smelled so delicious--macaroni and cheese, green beans, and cornbread--that Sans could feel himself salivating magic.

“It’s nice to finally meet y’all proper,” Mama said. She extended a hand to Paps and another to Sans (and still had leftovers to stir the dishes). “Ya can just call me Mama.”

“Looks good, Mama!” Dyna said.

“Hush. We’ll start right after we say grace.”


	17. Chapter 17

Mama was the kind to overfill plates and smack hands if they got too grabby. She was warm and funny and made an ache rise in Sans’s soul that he hadn’t felt in years, not since their dad kicked it and he took over raising Paps. 

Alphys and Dyna turned out to be longer term residents, though neither said why they were there. But they didn’t ask why the brothers were there either, so Sans couldn’t complain. Both women seemed to have jobs here; Alphys as some sort of remote computer programmer and Dyna as a local mechanic of sorts. She was rambling on about having too much to do the next day to get it all done when Sans had a brilliant idea.

“ya wanna hand?” he asked.

She stared at him. “You work on cars?”

Sans shrugged. “have done some in my day. could use a bit of pocket money on our way to where we’re goin’.”

“You know anything about onboard computers?”

Sans didn’t say that he worked for CORE, where they designed them, and that he’d consulted with the programmer that designed them. He just nodded and said, “worked on some cars with ‘em, yeah.”

“Fine. Gerson’s got a new car and the computer’s giving me fits. If you can help, I’ll give you his payment.”

“Would you be interested in helping me tomorrow, dearie?” Mama asked Papyrus. Sans watched his bro inflate with pride.

“I WOULD BE HONORED TO, MA’AM.”


	18. Chapter 18

Liza was in the kitchen when Sans snuck down past midnight and made it clear any food in the fridge was fair game. When he hauled up the mountain of Tupperware, the littles looked on in wide-eyed wonder. 

“what’s this?” Three asked.

“fried chicken.”

“This one is clearly superior,” Four declared.

“SWEET POTATOES.”

“what ‘bout you, one? whatcha got?” Three asked.

One shrugged and shoved the container at him. 

“MACARONI AND CHEESE.”

“Well, none of this food is worthy of my time,” Two declared, though he finished an entire plate of deviled eggs himself.

“‘s better than the nutrient slurry,” Three said softly.

“I’m just glad we can eat solids. I assumed we could; gods know we’ve watched Red stuff his maw enough to think it possible,” Four mused.

“YOU’VE NEVER HAD SOLID FOODS BEFORE?”

“not ‘til ya sprung us. doc said it wasn’ necessary.”

“how long ya been there?” Sans blurted. Sans’d only worked at the lab a year so--

“One’s been there the longest. One, do you know--”

“don’ know,” One interrupted quickly. “doc wasn’ real big on fact sharin’.”

Four huffed. “Well, I know that I was made two months ago. Honestly, there’s a calendar, One. It’s not hard to know how much time has passed. Takes about two months to make us, right? So you’re probably--”

“We are not talking about this!” Two snapped.

Three shrugged. “one, i don’ think ya look a day o’er a month.”

One grinned at him and Two cursed.


	19. Chapter 19

The next morning came bright and early with Papyrus excitedly declaring, “RISE AND SHINE, LAZY BONES! WE BOTH HAVE WORK TODAY!”

Sans groaned and rolled over, much to the chagrin of Three, who’d been asleep on his chest. “sorry,” Sans muttered as the monster fell onto the bed.

“I HAVE MISSED WORKING! TODAY IS TRULY A THRILLING DAY!” Papyrus declared. 

Sans sighed. Paps loved his job back home; he worked in a pretty successful little potion shop while he decided what he wanted to go to school for. Just another thing that his baby brother lost because of Sans’s idiocy. 

“alright, i’m up.” He turned to the littles. “make sure to stay hidden while we’re gone. i’ll leave out a sign not to clean the room, but make sure you aren’t seen.”

“Do you think we are idiots?” Two growled. “Of course we won’t allow ourselves to be seen.”

“good to hear.”

All six occupants of the room jumped at the loud banging on the door. “Ready to head to work, Bones?” Dyna’s voice called.

Sans sucked in a deep breath. “yup.”

He waved to Pap (and the littles) before slipping into the hallway. Dyna looked him over with an unimpressed stare. “You’re wearing what you wore to dinner,” she said.

“yeah?”

“Come on. We probably got some extra overalls at the shop for ya.”

Sans followed her out, but not before Liza tossed him a couple of blueberry muffins and well wishes for his first day of work.


	20. Chapter 20

Working was a great distraction. Sans buried himself in the onboard computer of a CORE luxury car. One of his buddies was the programmer, so Sans was familiar with the system. He rooted out some bugs pretty quickly and gave the car a nice little upgrade too. Gerson seemed gruffly happy with the work and forked over a wad of cash for his trouble. Dyna seemed grudgingly impressed and gave him another car to debug. By the time he left, he had a pocket full of cash and an offer to come back again the next day.

“honey, i’m home! it’s me, two, you shit, don’ stab me!”

“If we had an established password this would not happen,” Two said serenely.

Sans dumped the bags he was carrying onto the bed, revealing a few doll outfits and stuff for him and Pap. The littles crawled onto the bed and touched the clothes with near reverence. It took awhile, but eventually, everyone had on clothes: One, a little blue dress; Two, a fake black leather jacket and jeans; Three, a cozy pale sweater; and Four, cargo shorts and blazer. Their other clothes were carefully stashed in a drawer with the few outfits he’d gotten himself and Paps. 

Two was oddly quiet, petting the blazer over and over. 

“y’ok, bud?” One asked him.

“They’re soft,” Two whispered.

“They are,” Four agreed softly.

Sans looked away so they wouldn’t realize that Sans saw them all pile into One’s arms for a hug.


	21. Chapter 21

“I thought you might help Liza wash the windows, since you’re so tall,” Mama told Papyrus, who nodded brightly.

“I WOULD LOVE TO, MA’AM!”

It was a mild day outside so Liza had a long sleeve shirt under her overalls, her bangs pushed back with an orange bandana. The two of them passed the day pleasantly discussing nothing and everything--the weather, the shops in town, local gossip about people Papyrus didn’t know. He returned the favor by sharing some gossip from his old workplace, though it made his soul clench to think he may never find out if Catty and BP finally went on that date.

“What kind of place did you use to work?” Liza asked.

“Um.” He couldn’t say his name or where he lived. Could he tell her he used to work in a potions shop? He wasn’t sure. His brother was so much better at keeping secrets! Papyrus had a Truth Only policy and he didn’t know how to answer without violating it. But Sans said if Red found them, he’d kill them and his little brothers. He’d never been a big brother before, but he needed to protect them, like Sans.

“You don’t have to answer,” Liza said easily. “This is a good place for a fresh start.”

Papyrus blinked at her. “YOU SOUND LIKE YOU KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE.”

Liza’s smile was sad. They didn’t chat about the past anymore after that.


	22. Chapter 22

There turned out to be a lot of odd jobs in town if you knew where to look, and boy did Mama know where to look. The skeletons were never wanting for work; either Dyna needed help at the garage, Mama needed help at the house, or some townsfolk needed something. The days went on and Sans knew they needed to leave, but it was hard to turn down a soft bed and steady work.

That day, he was working on the plumbing at the B&B. Apparently the sinks tended to back up, so Sans was working on some of the pipes. Mama gave him an old toolbox and let him loose.

“water ya doin’?” One asked as Sans worked on the sink in their room. All the littles wandered in so they could watch him.

“shuttin’ down the waterworks, hopefully,” Sans answered. He swapped the wrench out for a hammer. 

There was a strangled noise behind him. Two’s eye lights were gone and he was shaking. One had a hold of him while Three and Four looked on, terrified. “the hell’s wrong?” Sans gasped.

“put the hammer away!” One yelled. Sans scrambled to obey.

Glacially, Two started breathing again and his eye lights came back. When he was finally aware, he wrenched himself from One and screwed up his face at Sans, “I hate you! I hate all of you!” he screamed, then ran out of the room.

Sans silently decided to never, ever use a hammer again.


	23. Chapter 23

There were other awkward moments that reminded Sans that the little monsters had never been outside a lab before. The first time Paps took a shower, they woke Sans in a panic because it sounded like something Dings used on them in the lab. Once, Sans found them prodding at a sunbeam on the floor. Later, after they were assured it was safe, he found them all sleeping in it like a pile of kittens. 

Three and Four couldn’t restrain their questions about anything and everything. Four took to perching on Paps’s shoulder, asking questions about everything from politics to nature. Paps basked in the attention, passing his coolness to his ‘little brother’. They spent a lot of time trying to come up with more acceptable names for the quartet, with Two throwing in scathing remarks from his perch on top of the dresser, where he liked to keep watch with the sewing needle he found. Three liked lounging in Sans’s hood and simply hanging out with him. The two rarely talked, but Sans couldn’t pretend he didn’t enjoy the company.

It was all so damn domestic and Sans felt it lulling him into a false sense of security. As he lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling with Paps beside him and Three curled up above his soul, he knew it would get them all killed. On those nights, he saw white eye lights staring back at him and he wondered if One was thinking the same thing.


	24. Chapter 24

“I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE NICE TO TAKE ALL OF MY BROTHERS OUT FOR A TREAT!”

“paps, you know we can’t take them out.”

“THEY HAVE BEEN IN THAT ROOM FOR THREE WEEKS! THEY CAN’T STAY INSIDE THAT LONG. SKELETONS REQUIRE A GENEROUS AMOUNT OF SUNLIGHT TO BE HEALTHY AND HAPPY.”

“they literally lived in a lab until three weeks ago!”

“ALL THE MORE REASON TO TAKE THEM OUT! PLEASE, SAN--BLUE?”

… And that’s how Sans ended up carrying One and Three in his pockets, following the other three to the park carrying ice cream. They spread out in a wooded area by a little creek. As soon as they finished their ice cream, Three pushed Two into the water, causing him to shriek. Four held out his hand and somehow pushed Three in after Two from his perch on Papyrus’s knee.

“I will destroy you!” Two screeched. He tried to tackle a chuckling Three, but he disappeared and reappeared next to Papyrus.

“Don’t be hasty--” Four tried, but Three grabbed him and teleported him directly into the creek with him. Four yelped as Two tackled both of them.

“gonna join ‘em?” Sans asked One, who was curled up watching them from the grass.

One didn’t take his eyes off of the others when he shrugged lazily. “nah, they’re doin’ fine without me.”

Sans swallowed. “so you were the first, huh?”

“heh. that is what the name implies.”

“so... do you know how much alike we are?”

“well ya didn’ grow up as a test subject, so not that alike i’d say.”


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five

Sans watched One’s indulgent expression as the other three played in the water, then glanced over at Papyrus who’d joined them at the edge of the creek. “wouldn’t say we’re all that different either.”

One shrugged. “got a favorite color?”

“blue.”

“heh, same. favorite food?”

“burgers. you?”

“anythin’ that’s not in a feedin’ tube.” Sans winced. One eyed him warily. “that ain’t ever gonna change, ya know?” Sans started to ask what he meant, but he kept talking. “no matter how long we’re outta there, we ain’t ever gonna be normal. we’re always gonna be lab rats. changin’ our names and givin' us doll clothes won’t make us normal. we’ll never be normal, dude. it’s gonna be a lot more like that day with the hammer than days like this.”

“ok.”

“is it? ya gonna be able to keep handlin’ it when we gotta leave the inn?”  _ When we have to run, _ he didn’t say.

Sans wanted to answer, but his mouth was dry. One watched him struggle for words, then leaned back and shook his head. “thought so. just... thanks for all this nice stuff for them. before ya give up on us.”

“i’m not--”

“ **d o n ‘ t l i e** ,” One growled, his voice dropping a full octave. His eye lights disappeared and one of his hands sparked with magic.

Sans sucked in a breath. “‘m not plannin’ to give up on ya.”

One’s eye lights returned. It wasn’t enough, but it would have to do.


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six

When the littles started to shiver, Papyrus insisted that they return to the inn. They were barely out of the little woods when Sans heard someone call his new name. He whipped around and saw Liza waving at them from a swing set. Dyna and Alphys were there too; Dyna was swinging as high as possible and Alphys was laughing along with her. 

“Come swing with us!” Liza yelled.

“swing?” Three whispered, confused.

“i don’t think--” 

“SOUNDS FUN! THANK YOU, LIZA!” Papyrus trekked over to one of the empty swings and initiated a competition with Dyna to see who could swing higher. Sans silently hoped that the littles would be okay on the swings, then sank into an empty swing on the other side of Liza.

“Come on,” she said with a grin, “let’s swing!”

“aren’t you supposed to be an adult?” Sans asked.

She laughed, a golden bell twinkling. “Being an adult doesn’t mean forgetting to have fun, Blue! Come on. When’s the last time you tried it?”

Sans couldn’t think of a way out of it, so he kicked off the ground. He felt Three and One clutch the inside of his hoodie pockets as he arced into the air and he had to hold back a laugh of delight. The air on his face reminded him of better days, days when his father was alive and his biggest worry was selling his math homework to the other kids. For just a moment, his soul felt light.


	27. Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Never make us do that again.” 

Two and One both sprawled out on the toilet seat. Three and Four sat next to them in solidarity.

“I THOUGHT YOU WOULD ENJOY THE SWINGS!”

Two threw up again.

“uh, maybe don’ say the s word big guy,” One gulped.

“I WILL GET YOU SOME STOMACH SETTLING FOODS!” Pap declared.

Sans sighed and sank onto the floor beside the toilet in case one of them fell in. Three looked up with a tear-streaked face and Sans’s soul lurched. “they’re ok, bud. jus’ motion sickness.”

Two looked up, his face softening. “He’s right. One and I will be fine as soon as the room stops spinning.”

“but--”

“This isn’t like that time,” Two said quickly, glancing at Sans. “Now hush.”

“Here, Three, let’s sing them the song,” Four said. “You know that always helps.”

Two shot Sans a Look that told him to keep his mouth shut or else. Sans held up a placating hand; he wasn’t about to say anything about their song, whatever it was.

He wasn’t expecting it to be bubble gum pop, a song he recognized from the radio station that Jim liked to play in the lab. They sang it like they’d done it a hundred times. If this is what they did when one of them was hurt, they probably had.

Sans felt a hatred of CORE well up in his soul. Odd feeling to have while quiet bubble gum pop set the soundtrack in the background.


	28. Chapter Twenty-Eight

The knock at the door was unexpected. “The shower!” Four hissed.

Five minutes later, a slightly damp Sans wrapped in a towel threw open the door. Liza jumped and then looked over his damp bones. 

“sorry. was in the shower.”

She glanced at the firmly shut bathroom door. “O-oh. Are you okay? I thought I heard retching. You seemed fine earlier at the park, but--”

“just a little bug,” Sans interrupted.

Liza looked like she wanted to argue but didn’t. “Mama sent up some soup.”

Sans took the tray and tried to smile at her, but every alarm bell he had was blaring. She kept looking at the bathroom door like she suspected that someone else was in the room, and she knew it wasn’t Paps. “thanks but i gotta go.” He started to close the door, but Liza caught it. He felt magic coil in his gut.

Her eyes flashed. “Let me know if you need anything, okay?” she said finally.

“yep. sure.”

Finally,  _ finally, _ she left. He sat the tray down on the dresser as he hustled back into the bathroom, only to get stabbed by Three wielding Two’s sewing needle. The terrified look in everyone’s eye lights stopped even the slightest surge of anger at the injury. “‘s fine; liza just brought us food.”

“Great,” Four said, relaxing a little. “Now put on some pants.”


	29. Chapter Twenty-Nine

Sans knew this couldn’t last.

He got home from work to find the door to their room cracked open and his soul plummeted. He froze, torn between barging in to see if the littles were okay and running off to get Paps and flee. He heard Two growl and shoved his way into the room before he thought it through.

Liza was on the bed. Two brandished his sewing needle at her, stabbing her leg if she moved too much. Her ankle bled little drops of crimson blood. One slouched beside Two, looking like someone just woke him up, and Three and Four both knelt on the dresser. 

“liza!” Sans said, pulling the door shut.

“Blue! Who are these?” She sounded more curious than scared.

“uh, it’s a long story, kiddo, but i can’t tell you all of it.”

“You’re not telling her any of it!” Two snarled. “We have to get rid of her!”

Sans frowned. “well, we’re definitely not doing that.”

“Then what? Just let her go tell--”

“shut up, two,” One said. To Sans, “bud, you got a plan here?”

Sans swallowed. “uh. we’re runnin’ from someone who wants to kill them.”

That hung in the air for a minute before Liza said, “Who?”

“can’t tell ya that.”

She furrowed her brow and looked back at the littles. “You seem like very kind bitties, but--”

“We are not kind!” Two snarled.

“let’s hear her out, bud,” Sans said, carefully keeping himself between the girl and the door.


	30. Chapter Thirty

“I knew something was up on the swings,” Liza told Sans. “I could see the pocket of your hoodie moving.”

Two turned to glare at One and Three.

“I heard noises in here, too. While you guys were at work. So… I investigated.” She pushed her bangs back and looked seriously at Sans. “I’m not going to tell anyone. I promise.” 

“Oh, sure, we just believe any random human we encounter,” Two snarked.

Liza sighed. “What do I need to do to convince you?”

“Can’t be done.”

“TELL US YOUR TRAGIC PAST STORY,” Papyrus said. Sans swung around to see his bro standing in the doorway.

Liza sucked in a breath and looked away. “I’m… I’m running too. I can’t tell you who from but… If they found me, they’d kill me.” She looked down at Two. “If you keep my secret, I’ll keep yours.”

Two narrowed his eyes. “Fine, human. We will keep your secret. When you betray us--”

“if,” Sans corrected.

“ _ When _ you betray us, we will scatter your dust to the winds.”

“Fair enough,” Liza said. “How about I go get you something to eat and we get to know one another?” She slid off the bed and slipped out of the room, leaving Sans feeling sick.

“We should leave,” Four said.

“I hate to agree with Four,” Two said, “but it was idiotic to stay this long, to begin with! We must leave at once before the human betrays us.”

“SHE WON’T,” Papyrus said happily.


	31. Chapter Thirty-One

Papyrus insisted they stay and, somehow, convinced the ‘bitties’ (as Liza took to calling them) it was a good idea. Sans privately thought it had something to do with the way the pretty human smiled at them and joked with them while they ate, but he wasn’t gonna say that to them. He didn’t want to get shanked by Two in his sleep, thanks.

Sans began finding Liza in their small room with the bitties when he got back from work. They often were playing games; Four and Two seemed to love them in particular, even if One usually won. Three spent most of his time trying to actively cheat at the game. 

Paps took to cooking with Mama each night, excitedly absorbing her recipes. He and Dyna began running together.

And Sans watched. And waited. He kept a wary eye out for the first sign of trouble, one hand on the door even as he found himself spending time with Alphys nerding out about computers and science and anime. He braced himself for the floor to fall out from under them, even as he and Mama became partners for the local Bridge tournament. They won and Mama insisted he keep the prize money. He slipped some in her room later in the week. He packed a go-bag that they could grab easily. He learned the locals’ names. He knew they should leave, even as he became a regular at the local pub. 

He was terrified.

He was happy. 


	32. Chapter Thirty-Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: This chapter that "Implied/Referenced Homophobia" tag comes into play. There's also a little incest joke.

Another week passed and Sans’s business at the garage grew steadier. He was elbows deep in a CORE car when Dyna asked, “Why’re ya here, Bones?” 

He stiffened.

“No one just moves into a B&B,” she continued. “So why’re ya here?”

“you an’ Alphys just moved into a B&B.”

Dyna snorted. “You’re a moron, aintcha? Ya know we’re not sisters, right? What else could we be?”

Sans paused. Humans were weird about same-sex relationships, even in the city. He looked up at her and she nodded. “Just wanted to tell ya that I get it. Everyone’s runnin’ from something, ya know?” 

Sans nodded numbly.

“So ya bonin’ Stretch or what?”

Sans snorted and gasped for air. “w-what?”

Dyna shrugged. “Just told ya we won’t judge. Is that why you’re here and pretending to be brothers?”

“We  _ are _ brothers.”

Dyna whistled low. “Well, I still don’t judge.”

Sans’s brows shot up.  _ “i’m not boning my brother!” _

Dyna laughed loudly. “Fine, you’re not ready to talk ‘bout it. But when ya are, you know where to go.” She punched his shoulder hard enough to bruise but it didn’t touch his HP. “Nerd.”

Sans laughed a little and tried to ignore the warm feeling in his soul. He wasn’t safe here; no swings or Bridge or confessions would change that, and forgetting that would get his bro killed.


	33. Chapter Thirty-Three

“we are not havin’ a girl sleepin’ in our room,” Sans said.

“AND WHY NOT? EVERYONE SHOULD EXPERIENCE A SLEEPOVER AT SOME TIME IN THEIR LIVES!”

“please don’ make me explain why we can’ have a pretty human girl sleep in here.”

Papyrus sighed and tried to sidestep Sans, who refused to get out of the way. “HONESTLY! I’VE ALREADY ASKED HER AND SHE HAS ALREADY SAID YES! TO TAKE IT BACK NOW WOULD BE RUDE AND I’M NOT DOING IT JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE WORRIED SOMEONE WILL THINK WE ARE DOING SEX THINGS WITH HER.”

Sans choked. “please never say ‘sex things’ again.”

“NOT THAT THERE’S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT! DYNA AND ALPHYS DO SEX THINGS ALL THE TIME!”

“bro, please never… wait, what?”

Papyrus looked at him like he was a moron. “HONESTLY BROTHER! DON’T YOU NOTICE ANYTHING?”

Huh. So Paps knew, too? Well, it made sense that he would notice. Papyrus always did notice more than he was supposed to.

Papyrus used the distraction to shove by him. “SLEEPOVER TIME!”

Sans facepalmed and followed his brother into the room where Liza and the bitties were making a pillow fort on the floor. “It’s just a bed on the floor,” Two snarked.

“It’s magical and fun and you’ll love it,” Liza said happily. “Thank you for the extra blankets, Stretch!”

Paps beamed. “OF COURSE, FRIEND!”

Welp. This was happening.


	34. Chapter Thirty-Four

Watching movies on Liza’s laptop reminded Sans a little too much of the year he lived in the dorms, everyone piled on the bed like puppies so they could see the screen. Two watched the horror movie with glee, but they had to turn it off when a scientist appeared. Four nearly had a panic attack at the sight of him holding a needle. Switching to an animated movie about cats was a great choice. The bitties had never seen cats before and were fascinated as one of the kittens purred on the screen.

“what’s it doin’?” Three asked.

“Purring,” Liza said.

“why?”

“She’s happy.”

Three turned to Two. “that’s the noise you keep makin’.”

Two flushed blue. “I do not make the same noises as a house cat!”

“yeah ya do! yer were makin’ it the other night when yer fell asleep on Pa--Stretch.”

Two vaulted to his feet. “Take it back! I’d never make a purr!”

“like a lil’ kitten,” Three cooed.

Two super-jumped into the air and aimed a kick at Three’s face. Three gave a lazy yawn and teleported safely out of the way of where Two slammed into the bed.

“ **t h a t ‘ s e n o u g h,** ” One growled. The others froze and looked at him. He threw a meaningful look at Liza.

“That was cool,” she said, turning back to the screen as if she hadn’t just seen two tiny monsters use superpowers.

_ What the hell? _


	35. Chapter Thirty-Five

“GASP! YOU’VE NEVER HAD A SLEEPOVER? DID YOUR FRIENDS FEAR YOUR GREATNESS TOO?”

Liza laughed. It’s a bitter noise. “Sure, Stretch.” She stared into space and added, “You know, just because a lot of people are around you doesn’t mean that you have friends. I had a sister and…” She trailed off, then shook her head and plastered on a smile. “Anyway. I’m glad my first sleepover is with you guys!”

“ME TOO, FRIEND LIZA! BROTHER, HAVE YOU EVER HAD A SLEEPOVER?”

Sans choked on his soda, images of the many nights he spent in anonymous beds in college. And supply closets. And classrooms. And the storerooms of bars.

“nope, not like this, bro,” Sans said.

“THEN IT IS ALL OF OUR FIRST SLEEPOVER! I WISH WE COULD PLAY SLEEPOVER GAMES!”

“How about MASH?” Everyone looked at Liza in confusion. “You’ve never played? Ah, it’s great!” She rooted around and found a notebook. “Here we go!”

By the time the first bitty (Three) fell asleep, Sans knew he would marry the presiden and live in a shack. Paps turned bright orange when it was declared he’d marry Mettaton. Apparently, he and One had to share him, while Three and Four both got DJ Napstablook. Two refused to play and ended up with a human popstar as a punishment.

Sans settled back to sleep, Paps and the bitties all already out. Liza smiled at him and whispered, “Thanks.” 

“heh. your sleepover made _stretch_ real happy. so... thanks to you.”


	36. Chapter Thirty-Six

Darkness is dangerous. Makes it easy to spill secrets.

“You know I’d never hurt you guys,” Liza said.

“do i?”

“If I wanted to, I would have already done it. I didn’t even tell Mama about the bitties and I tell her everything.”

“well that’s… uh…”

“Blue. Where did the bitties come from?”

The darkness pressed in on him. They left the city months ago and no one had come for them. They were making a life here. Paps was happy. The bitties could be happy, probably, in time. Sans… Well, Sans’s feelings were pretty irrelevant, but maybe… maybe this place wouldn’t be a bad place to just… stay? Maybe…?

Sans shook his head hard. What the hell was he thinking? They weren’t safe, not now and not ever. They needed to leave.

“It was CORE, right?”

Sans’s soul plummeted. She knew? How could she know? 

“Thought so,” she said bitterly, like her mouth was full of blood. “I wondered…”

“how?”

“Blue--”

_ “how?!” _

“An educated guess. I didn’t mean to upset you. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

“liza--”

“I understand better than most what CORE is capable of. You have nothing to fear from me.”

Everything was spiraling out of control.

They needed to leave.

_ There’s nowhere to go. _

It isn’t safe.

_ Nowhere is safe. _

Run.

_ Sleep. _


	37. Chapter Thirty-Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's poppin off, y'all! I've been waiting for this chapter :)

“‘ey there sweetheart. wakey wakey eggs and bakey.” 

Sans shot up. In the darkness of the early morning, two red eye lights burned down at him. Red stood over him with Liza pulled against him. Sans yelped and shoved himself backward, kicking at Red.

_ This isn’t real. It’s a nightmare. _

Red chuckled. “sorry, sweetheart, but yer comin’ wit’ me.”

“paps! run!” Sans threw himself at Red to tackle him. The huge mobster barely moved, just rocked on his toes a little. Papyrus was frozen, eye lights huge, with Two and Four on his shoulders. “get ‘em outta here!” Sans yelled at his brother.

Liza took advantage of Sans’s attack to bring her heel into his pelvis. Hard. 

Red groaned and doubled over; she danced out of his arms and moved to the door. She made eye contact with Sans and mouthed something before slamming the door shut.

She abandoned them. Left them to save herself. Sans couldn’t blame her, not really, but the realization still felt like a slap. He pushed himself backward and crashed into Papyrus’s arms. 

“Three, get us out of here!” Four ordered

Nothing happened.

“Three?”

“sorry, didja lose somethin’, doll?” Red was back up and had Three in a death grip. His hand was big enough to crush the tiny monster.

Two snarled. The dragons appeared again but Red laughed and squeezed tighter. Three squeaked.

“means nothin’ ta me. if i kill ‘im there’s three more o’ you.”

The dragons disappeared. Red smiled.


	38. Chapter Thirty-Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that I added a few tags! None of them apply to this chapter, but as I'm writing forward, they will apply. Check 'em out and make sure you're safe.   
> Let me know if you have any questions!  
> And hey, I haven't said it lately, but thanks for reading :)

“jus’ come over ‘ere like good lil’ monsters an’ no one gets ‘urt.” He winked at Sans. “much.”

“Screw that,” Two said. “Let him go.”

Little harder squeeze. Another small squeak.

One was staring at Sans. Waiting for him to give them up, probably. Sans couldn’t breathe. 

“Let the bigs go,” Four said, “and we will come with you. There is no reason for you to take them, too.”

Red laughed. “that right?”

“yup,” One said. One of his sockets glowed blue and the dragons reappeared. “or i’ll jus’ dust the four o’ us. see how your boss feels ‘bout startin’ over.” He laughed hollowly. “might even start usin’  _ you _ as a lab rat.”

Sans should probably think about something besides his surprise that One is the bitty who makes blasters. They really went out of their way to make it look like it was Four. The hell does Four do, then?

“tch. fine, i don’ care. see ya, cutie.” Red stepped out of the way of the door. Sans pushed Paps in front of him and fell into step. He watched Paps walk through the doorway.

_ “just... thanks for all this nice stuff for them. before ya give up on us.” _

He looked back at One, wondered if he remembered those words, too. If he was furious they were coming true.

_ “‘m not plannin’ to give up on ya.” _

He looked at Papyrus’s back.

He made a choice.


	39. Chapter Thirty-Nine

Sans slammed the door shut and grabbed Red’s wrist. He twisted the hand holding Three until he heard something pop, until the mobster yelped and dropped him. Three was inches from the floor when his soul turned blue. 

Red was off-balance so Sans shoved him towards the bathroom. Red snarled and fell into the door, which buckled in a shower of splinters. Sans fell with him, but saw Papyrus open the door. The bitties dashed to him and Papyrus scooped them up. “go,” Sans yelled. He elbowed Red in the sternum and put all of his weight behind keeping Red on the ground. Papyrus looked at him, wide-eyed and worried. Sans kicked the door shut and tried not to think that was the last time he’d see his brother.

Red managed to throw Sans off and staggered to his feet, snarling. Sans’s feet left the floor as Red grabbed him up by the throat. “yer turnin’ out ta be real hard ta kill,” Red growled. His grip tightened as Sans kicked frantically. “oughta take ya out right now. be easy.”

Darkness crowded Sans’s vision as he struggled for air. He felt his movements slowing. He was going to die here, he was, but every second he was awake was another second his brother could escape. Another second he was buying them with his life.

That was fine. His life hadn’t ever meant much anyway. If Papyrus made it out, that would all be worth it. They were all worth it.


	40. Chapter Forty

Papyrus balked as the door slammed in his face. He couldn’t move. He needed to save Sans, but the bitties needed him as well! He looked down at the pile in his arms. “YOU SHOULD GO,” he said. “YOU WILL MAKE IT FURTHER WITHOUT US.”

“not leavin’ ya,” One said firmly.

“BUT--”

“‘sides, three’s lights’re out.”

“Let’s see if we can wake the others,” Four said. “Red may be the devil incarnate but I doubt he could win against everyone. Right?”

That made sense. Surely with Dyna, Alphys, and Mama’s help, they would be able to subdue the mobster with minimum injury and violence! Papyrus had no idea what they would do with him after that, but Sans always was the smart brother. 

He bolted down the hall and pounded on Dyna and Alphys’s door. 

No one answered.

“HELLO, IT IS YOUR WONDERFUL FRIEND STRETCH AND WE NEED YOUR HELP, PLEASE!”

Nothing.

“No one will wake up.” Papyrus spun and saw Liza standing behind him. “Not even Mama.”

“WHY NOT? ARE THEY…”

She shook her head. “I think they’re drugged. We, um, didn’t eat dinner so…”

There was a thump down the hall and they both looked towards his room. “We should go.”

“MAYBE YOU CAN JUST ABANDON S-- BLUE, BUT I WON’T!”

“I don’t think we have a choice!”

“THERE IS ALWAYS A CHOICE.” Papyrus squared his shoulders. “TAKE THE BITTIES AND RUN.”

“No!” Two bit down on Papyrus’s finger with his sharp little teeth. “Not leaving you!”


	41. Chapter Forty-One

“TWO! PLEASE LET GO!” Papyrus didn’t want to shake his hand around to dislodge him, but he had to let go!

“Not dying for us!” Two snarled, muffled by a mouthful of bone.

Hands on Papyrus’s shoulders, Liza steered him towards the stairs. “We’re wasting time,” she said. There was a hard edge to her voice that Papyrus didn’t recognize.

“N-NO!”

Papyrus tried to dig his heels in. He wasn’t leaving his brother! Sans didn’t leave him when Red came for him! But somehow, Liza was stronger than him. More determined. He stumbled down the stairs, only regaining his footing to keep from falling on the bitties. 

“Gods, you are impossible!” Liza hissed. She disappeared into the kitchen, then returned with a backpack and

“IS THAT A GUN?” Papyrus gasped.

She gave him a hard look. “I’m just following instructions. Come on.”

She walked towards the front door, paused, and gestured for Papyrus to follow. When he didn’t move, she said, “Stretch. We will do everything we can for Blue, but we can’t do that if we’re dead. Come on. We need to go. Now.”

Papyrus gaped at her.

“It’s not like I  _ want _ to leave! Who knows what he might do to Mama! But us dying too won’t help anything, so  _ let’s freaking go!” _ Her eyes were wild, desperate. When he didn’t move, tears shimmered in her eyes. “I will leave you if I have to. If I have to leave Mama, you better believe I’ll leave you!”


	42. Chapter Forty-Two

Four’s grin should have told Papyrus that this plan was going to be dangerous and possibly hurtful. Not that Papyrus minded inflicting medium to high amounts of pain on Red! He was just concerned that the amount of pain that they caused might accidentally be reflected onto Sans.

Liza held true to her word and left, but not before shoving a second gun into Papyrus’s hands. “Be careful,” she’d said. She’d even looked back over her shoulder before disappearing out the front door. Now, Papyrus and the bitties were outside the bedroom door. He wasn’t afraid, of course, but he was certainly… some sort of unpleasant emotion. One conjured his dragons and Four knelt on Paps’s shoulder, control hand outstretched, ready. Two and Three were stashed in pockets, hopefully safe.

Papyrus ripped open the door and aimed the gun as instructed. One fired a blaster into the room and Papyrus heard a string of curses. Four clutched his hand, something pinged blue in the dark, and Sans crashed into his brother’s arms. Papyrus caught him and pulled the door before sprinting down the hall towards the stairs. He skidded around the corner and took the steps five at a time. His hand was on the door when he heard a now-familiar pop behind him. 

Another blaster fire.

Papyrus ripped open the door and ran.


	43. Chapter Forty-Three

Papyrus kept running as hard as he could. He dove behind the thrift store, making for the woods at the edge of town. “Sans?” he asked his brother with a little shake. He didn’t answer, head lulling unconsciously.

“Worry about him when we’re safe,” Four said.

Papyrus was fairly certain that he could worry about him while he ran, so he did that. Distantly, he was grateful that he began running with Dyna. That burn in his chest, for example, wasn’t from physical exertion but rather from losing this little family they’d made.

“Stop! I will use this!” Liza’s voice rang out from somewhere ahead.

“if yer were gonna use that, ya’da done it already.”

“Stay away from me, Gaster!”

A gunshot rang out. Liza screamed. Silence.

Papyrus’s soul churned. 

“heh. time ta come on out, paps,” Red said in a sing-song voice. They all froze (well, not Sans). Red chuckled. “‘s right. yer jus’ around the corner, yeah? come on out and i won’ hurtcha or yer lil’ friend.”

Four frantically shook his head at Papyrus. One raised his hand and a blaster reformed. 

“heh. guess i’ll just grab ya then.”

Papyrus didn’t even have time to turn around before he felt a bony hand on his shoulder. He dropped Sans and shoved the bitties off as he was pulled backward into inky blackness. The last thing he saw was Two’s shrinking eye lights as he disappeared.


	44. Chapter Forty-Four

There was a toilet in front of him, so Papyrus used it. It took him several minutes to swallow back his magic and regain control of himself enough to look around. He was kneeling in a bathroom, complete with a sink and shower.

“if yer done, beanpole, come on out ‘ere.”

Papyrus staggered out of the bathroom into something reminiscent of their small apartment in the city. There was a kitchenette, a table, and a few beds. Liza was laying on one of them. There were bookshelves shoved full of books and a radio on the counter. Red was pacing in the middle of the room. When he saw Papyrus, he grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him down to his level. “ya shouldna done that,” he growled.

“I WASN’T GOING TO LET YOU HURT THEM!”

Red looked him over and released him. “yer an idiot who’s gonna get ev’ryone killed.” Papyrus shrank in on himself. “i’mma go get the rest o’ ‘em. when i get back, we’ll talk terms. the girl’s fine; i jus’ knocked ‘er out.”

“WHY DO YOU WANT TO HURT THE BITTIES?”

Red rounded on him. “‘bitties’? that’s adorable. they ain’ _bitties._ they’re _lab rats_ an’ y’all jus’ had to go an’ name ‘em, take ‘em home, an’ feed ‘em! that don’ change that they got a job to do! everybody’s got a job to do!”

“DON’T DO THIS.”

Red snarled and disappeared, leaving him alone with Liza and the sick feeling in his soul.


	45. Chapter Forty-Five

“He dropped us!” Two snarled. “Of course he did! I told you that the bigs would--”

_“Shut up,”_ Four hissed. He was concentrating so hard that little beads of sweat were forming on his tiny skull. He was moving them all; they climbed on top of Sans’s unconscious body and Four turned his soul blue. It was a spooky sight, Sans’s unconscious body hovering a centimeter above the ground and floating along. Two was kneeling in his hoodie pocket clutching Three’s unconscious form and One perched on top of Sans’s skull, his posture deceptively casual. If anyone believed he wasn’t paying attention then they deserved what he did to him.

“he saved us, ya moron,” One said coldly.

Two snorted. “Yeah, it sure feels like we’re rescued.”

“would ya rather be with red?”

“We should have left weeks ago!”

“well, we didn’. we’re leavin’ now. we jus’ gotta get sans somewhere safe.”

Two looked down at Three and forced back the ugly emotions in his soul. He was not sad; he did not care about these big fools! It was their fault that they were in this position to begin with! They were better off without them. It was just frustrating that Three wouldn’t wake up, especially when they could heal him if only--

Two viciously shook off that thought. He  _ wasn’t _ here, would  _ never _ be here, and that was it. There was no going back. Dead was dead.

Two wasn’t crying. Not at all.  _ Crying never helped anyway. _


	46. Chapter Forty-Six

They didn’t get far before they heard heavy footsteps and smelled the stink of cigar smoke. It was immediate and visceral, the fear that ripped through Two. He ground his teeth and clutched Three tighter. “We have to leave him,” Two growled.

“nope,” One said, popping the p.

“One--”

Sans’s body lurched as Four pushed them into a dark doorway. Two had no idea what it was, but he was grateful for the darkness. Four let them down gently then released Sans’s soul, plunging them into total darkness. He staggered and One caught him as he fell unconscious. “here,” he whispered, shoving Four at Two. Two accepted him and added him to the pocket with his other unconscious brother, then stood up beside One.

“I’m going to draw him away,” Two said resolutely. “You stay with them.”

“good plan, but reverse it, bud.”

“You can fight. I cannot, not really. But I am far more elusive than you. I can lead him around and have a far smaller likelihood of actually getting caught.” And if he wished he had the sewing needle he left in their room, well, that was his business.

One relented. The two of them promised a long time ago to do what was best for the others and this? This was the best plan, the one that had the highest likelihood of their brothers surviving. One put his hand on Two’s shoulder and Two slipped back out into the cool night air.


	47. Chapter Forty-Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In just under the wire tonight! It's a late working night :/   
> Enjoy, and thank you for reading!

Two didn’t have to wait long for Red to spot him. As soon as those red eye lights settled on him, Two was running. He felt the displacement of air behind him that indicated Red teleported, so he launched himself into the air. He kicked off the wall to propel himself even higher, landing on one of those strange cloth things that make platforms over some doors. This was the only time he’d ever been grateful for The Doctor’s “tests”, at least the physical ones. 

“get back ‘ere ya little rat!”

He leapt off the end of the platform and landed on a window ledge. He felt his ankle twist painfully and bit back a yelp. He was fine. _It was only pain_. A rock crashed into the wall above him and exploded, raining debris over him. He grit his teeth and looked around for his next move. He pushed himself up and dashed along the window ledge and lept to the next, then the next, then the next.

Red snarled beneath him. “‘m really tryin’ not to hurt ya, but yer makin’ it real hard!”

“Yes, you’re trying so hard! I can tell because of the rocks!”

“jus’ get down ‘ere an’ i’ll stop throwin’ ‘em!”

“So you can take me back to the labs to be tortured? No, thank you. I would prefer that you simply murder me with rocks!”

There was a growl and a pop and Red was gone.


	48. Chapter Forty-Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another late night of work, another post in just under the wire.

Two pressed himself against the wall and listened. Red wouldn’t just  _ give up. _ He  _ needed _ them and their modifications. No matter how often The Doctor told them that they were replaceable, he saw how careful they were with the merchandise. 

He jolted to attention when he heard the whine of One’s blasters. No!  _ Nononononononono-- _

He curled into a ball and buried his face. There was nothing he could do, there had never been anything he could do, there was no escaping The Doctor. He knew. He  _ knew _ .  _ He couldn’t breathe. _ He needed to get up, he needed to help them,  _ to die with them-- _

“yer gonna wanna come down ‘ere!”

Two glanced down and saw that Red had Sans draped over his shoulder. The bitties were all limp in his other hand. He wouldn’t kill them, right? He needed them. The thing with Tubes was an accident, he was sure of it, no matter what The Doctor said--

Two’s frantic mind skidded to a halt when he realized that Red wasn’t looking at him. He didn’t know where he was. He’d lost track of him when he went to get the others. Two didn’t have to go down there; he could wait it out. There was a crack in the brick just above him. He could hide in there indefinitely. Eventually, Red would get bored and leave him. Maybe they’d leave him alone if they had the others.

_ He could be safe. _

_ He could be free. _


	49. Chapter Forty-Nine

“here.”

“SANS!”

“‘e’ll be fine. use this.”

Papyrus took the cream that Red shoved at him and watched as he laid Sans down on one of the beds. He removed three bitties from Sans’s hoodie with surprising gentleness. Papyrus made a strangled noise at the sight of all of their unconscious bodies. “WHERE’S TWO?”

“that asshole?” Red reached up into his own pocket and pulled out the small form of Two. The bitty was bound with Red’s silk tie, eye lights sparking angrily.

“ARE YOU ALRIGHT, BROTHER?”

Two threw him an angry look and Red stared at Papyrus like he suggested that they share a tender smooch. After a second, Red shook his head and growled, “‘e’s a pain in the ass. bit me.”

“WELL, MR. RED, YOU DID TIE HIM UP IN A TIE. TWO IS A VERY INDEPENDENT MONSTER AND DOES NOT LIKE TO BE BOUND, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING HIS PAST.”

Red stared at him again.

“I’M REFERRING TO THE UNETHICAL MEDICAL EXPERIMENTATION.”

“riiiight,” Red drawled. “they’ll all be fine. jus’ use the cream. it’ll help ‘em heal. whaddaya wan’ for dinner?”

Two glowered at Red. The tie was also an effective gag so whatever he wanted to say could only be communicated through his eye lights. Papyrus felt that was probably for the best. “I WOULD LIKE A SALAD. SANS WILL PROBABLY WANT A GREASY DISASTER AND THE BITTIES LIKE ANYTHING THAT ISN’T FROM A FEEDING TUBE. I DO NOT KNOW ABOUT LIZA.”

Red nodded stiffly and disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting places! Everyone is in one place again. Unfortunately, most of them are unconscious.


	50. Chapter Fifty

The salad Red brought back would have been delicious if it didn’t taste like worry and fear. Papyrus assumed that everything would taste that way until his brothers (and Liza) woke up. The cream helped the finger-shaped bruises on Sans’s neck and Three’s broken ribs. Four wasn’t hurt, just exhausted.

“Put all of them on Sans,” Two instructed. “Only way for us to heal is to get magic from a soul. Never will otherwise.”

Papyrus gently scooted them towards Sans. “NOW, LET ME TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR ANKLE.”

Two froze. “What?”

Papyrus rolled his eye lights. “DON’T BE A PRICKLY SEA CUCUMBER. I AM NOT STUPID; YOU ARE FAVORING YOUR RIGHT SIDE. YOU ARE INJURED.”

“I’m fine.”

“PLEASE?”

Two stared at Papyrus for a minute before sighing and sitting down. He rolled up his pant leg and Papyrus winced at the tiny hairline fracture on his fibula before gently rubbing some of the cream on the crack. “WE SHOULD TRY TO FIND A WAY TO MAKE YOU A CAST SO IT--”

Two’s eye lights blinked out. He pushed away from Papyrus, leaned over the edge of the bed, and spewed magic over the edge.

“TWO, WHAT--”

Two snatched the cream from him and pulled it to his chest before scooting against the wall, as far as he could get from Papyrus.

“He made this. This is his,” he whispered feverishly.

“WHO?”

Two shook his head and curled up with the cream. “Need to sleep.”

“O-OKAY THEN. SLEEP WELL, BROTHER.”


	51. Chapter Fifty-One

Sans woke up. That was the first surprise. The second was that he wasn’t in some sort of torture chamber. He was in a smallish room with a heavy door, but it looked more like an apartment than murder den. Sans was laying on a bed with fluffy blankets pulled up under his chin. His soul stuttered as Papyrus came into view.

“YOU’RE AWAKE!”

“heh. yeah, musta been bone tired. what happened?”

“YOU SCARED ME!”

“the bitties?”

“Right here, asshole,” Two said. Sans looked down and saw all four bitties curled up around him. Two was already climbing to his feet, shoving himself away from Sans like he was on fire and dragging some sort of lotion with him as he went.

“so we’re all ok?”

“YOUR FRIEND DROPPED US OFF HERE AND BROUGHT US THE CREAM TWO IS OBSESSED WITH AND GAVE US FOOD. IT WAS… STRANGE.”

Sans froze. “my... friend?”

“Red brought us to this bunker. We have all of the basic necessities, but we haven’t found a way out yet,” Liza said. Sans gaped at her.

“Three’s teleports aren’t working,” Four said. “We must be far from the outside, possibly buried deep underground, further than Three’s shortcuts can go.”

“how long’s it been?”

“THERE’S NO CLOCK SO WE COULDN’T TELL. YOU WERE VERY ASLEEP!”

Sans rubbed his forehead. “we have to get out of here.” He looked at Liza. “but first you’re gonna tell us who the hell you are and how red found us.”


	52. Chapter Fifty-Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to let you know there are some more updates in the tags! None of what is tagged is going to get any more graphic than what we have seen so far in this fic, but we have some stuff coming up in the next 10 chapters that might be triggering for some people. I don't *think* it's graphic or descriptive or anything, but I would rather warn than not!
> 
> If you have any questions about a specific tag or want me to summarize chapters that tags apply to, let me know! Stay safe!

“I can’t.”

Liza refused to say anything else. At all. No matter how Sans threatened, growled, raged; no matter how Papyrus encouraged, believed in, or begged. It didn’t matter. She simply refused to answer any questions, choosing instead to pace the bunker, trying to find a way out. 

The bitties just watched her. They all woke up and seemed pretty much fine; even Three’s crushed ribs healed up with the use of the cream. Two wouldn’t let anyone else touch the bottle. He kept it cuddled up against him at all times and insisted on administering the cream himself. 

One was confused at first, but when he found out that the cream had healing properties, he stopped asking about it as if that somehow made sense. 

“i just need some kind of answers,” Sans told One while the others slept that night(?).

One sighed. “there used to be another o’ us. two used to be two a an’ his twin? his twin was two b. two b got healing as a mod. i figure red musta got that cream from the lab an’ it has residual magic from tubes in it.”

Tubes? Two B… Tubes… Ah.

“what happened to ‘im?”

One shot him an unimpressed look. “same thing that happens to all lab rats eventually: an experiment killed ‘im. ‘s why the doc made three an’ four.”

And why Two wanted to protect them so much, probably.

Sans didn't know what to say. He didn't sleep that night.


	53. Chapter Fifty-Three

Red kept bringing food. After a few meals, Sans got _fed up_ (ha!). “what’re ya doin’?” he asked coldly. “where are we? when’re ya plannin’ to kill us?”

“did ya wan’ me ta kill ya?”

“it’s not like you ever cared what i wanted before,” he snarled. “what’s your angle, asshole?”

“LANGUAGE! BUT, MR. RED, I AM ALSO CURIOUS AS TO WHY YOU ARE KEEPING US ALIVE HERE. IT SEEMS THAT PERHAPS YOUR CONSCIENCE GOT THE BEST OF YOU?”

Red laughed, loud and mean. “my conscience? don’ have one. killed it at the same time i killed my first monster.”

“THEN WHY?”

Red stared at him. “eat ya damn food.”

“don’ talk to him like that,” Sans snapped.

“maybe don’ talk to the guy keepin’ ya alive like that!” Red snapped back. Then, he leaned back in his seat and smirked at Sans. “or do. i can get off either way.”

“You’re disgusting,” Liza said.

“oh, you  _ can _ talk!” Sans growled at her. “incredible! assumed you’d gone tragically mute!”

Liza glared at him and Red looked back and forth between them with a sharky grin on his face. “oh no,” he chortled. “trouble in paradise? what is it, sansy? she not tellin’ ya what ya wanna know? tell ya what. i’ll spill secrets. whaddya wanna know?”

Sans narrowed his sockets suspiciously. “whaddya want for it?”

“now yer catchin’ on. not much, sansy. jus’ a kiss for each answer.”

Sans stared at him. Red laughed and went back to eating.


	54. Chapter Fifty-Four

Another meal, another day without answers.

Surprisingly, Liza is the first to completely snap. “Just do it already!”

Red raised a brow. “what’s that doll?”

“We all know you’re going to kill Stretch and Blue and take the bitties! And what? Kill me? Turn me in? Torture me for info? What’s the plan, Gaster? Just do it already!”

Everyone fell silent for a few awkward seconds before Red burst into harsh laughter. “i was wonderin’ when ya’d get  _ frisky, _ doll. an’ yer yellin’ at me fer keepin’ secrets, but yer still callin’ them stretch an’ blue? an’ i guess they’re still callin’ ya liza? none of y’all know anythin’ do ya?”

Realization hit Sans like a truck. He didn’t recognize her. Why would he? She’d been dead for years, but everyone remembered how the Gasters killed the Dreemur kids. Asgore and Toriel Dreemur, owners and founders of CORE labs, used to have three kids: Asriel, Chara, and… Frisk. All three were found dead, murdered in their beds, and the leading crime family in the city was implicated. Sans tried to figure out what to even do with this new and terrifying information. Should he play dumb or--

“YOU’RE FRISK DREEMUR?”

\--or Paps could just ask. Liza shut her eyes and took a deep breath while Red laughed like a maniac. 

“BUT THE GASTERS KILLED YOU!”

Red abruptly stopped laughing. “yeah. we’re always the bad guys. anyway, if we'da killed ‘er, she’da stayed dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLOT TWIST. DUN DUN DUN!


	55. Chapter Fifty-Five

“you really seem like the honest type. can’t imagine why people’d think ya killed a buncha kids,” Sans snarked at Red.

“It really wasn’t the Gasters,”  ~~ Liza ~~ Frisk said softly.

“WHO WAS IT THEN?”

Frisk swallowed and looked away. “He’s just going to turn me in. It doesn’t matter.”

“of course,” Sans muttered. “would hate to have any idea of what’s going on here. ever.” Sans turned back to Red. “fine. ya wanna tell me why i’m still alive?”

“ya know the price of info, dollface.” Red tapped his teeth and leered at Sans. 

“fine! fine. whatever.” Sans marched over to Red and practically threw himself into the monster’s lap. He straddled Red’s legs and looked up at him. “if we make out will you tell me everything? cause i’m real tired of having no idea what’s going on around me.”

There was a low growling from somewhere behind Sans; apparently, the bitties didn’t care for this display. Hell, Sans didn’t care for it either, but it wasn’t like it really mattered. Maybe the mobster would let him live. Maybe he’d let  _ Paps _ live. 

_ Sans would do anything for Paps. _

Red didn’t look like he was into it, though. His eye lights shrinking to pinpricks was Sans’s only warning before Red jumped up and dumped him unceremoniously on the floor.

“what the hell?” Sans yelped.

“what the hell ya doin’?” Red snarled.

“what you told me to!”

Red stared down at Sans for a moment and then disappeared.


	56. Chapter Fifty-Six

Red’s panicked teleport ended in his bedroom.

_ What the hell was he doin’? _

Red paced with a bottle of mustard and tried to think. Why didn’t he just kill Sans and Papyrus, take the lab rats, and bring them back to Wings like he was supposed to? The Dreemur girl was a bit o’ a plot twist, but bringin’ her in could only mean good things for him and his. Gods know that dealin’ with the damn doctors at CORE would be easier if they didn’ have to sneak around behind the Dreemurs’ backs. Frisky could prove that they didn’t kill the Dreemur kids.  _ Finally. _

“BROTHER?”

Red choked back a groan as his door opened, revealing his little brother. ‘Little’ was relative; Edge was easily twice Red’s height. Papyrus reminded him of Edge a little bit, actually. “what?” he growled.

“YOU SEEM UPSET.”

“nope.”

“REALLY? BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN MONTHS AND YOU HAVEN’T FOUND THE SPECIMENS.” Red stopped to glare at his little bro, who only stared mildly back. “YOU ARE UPSET THAT WINGS PUT ME ON THE CASE.”

“pfft. like i give a shit if yer on the case.”

“WE BOTH KNOW YOU WILL FIND THEM EVENTUALLY. MY HELP CAN ONLY INCREASE THE ODDS--”

“i don’ need yer help,  _ baby brother. _ now get out an’ go tell wings i’ll find ‘em.”

Edge paused, and he looked lost for just a second. Then, the proud facade he always wore slammed back into place and he left without another word.


	57. Chapter Fifty-Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before we can go forward, we need to go back. It's time to find out what the heck Red is up to.
> 
> *This chapter takes place four months earlier, just after Sans and co arrive at Mama's.*

Red sat in the booth by the window reading a local newspaper and smiling at the pretty little waitress each time she refilled his coffee, just like he’d done every day for the past week. Since he found Sans Serif.

Red couldn’t really explain why he didn’t just grab the kid and drag ‘im home. He knew where he was stayin’ so it wouldn’t be a problem to get the merchandise back; it was surely in their cozy little room. At first, it was ‘cause he needed to know if anyone else to clean up. Then, he was curious.

Now?

Now, he didn’t know what he was doin’. 

He couldn’t explain why his soul squeezed when he thought about popping the kid’s head off. He jus’ knew that he didn’ wanna take the kid to his bro, didn’t wanna follow Wings’s orders to ‘deal with the problem’. The beanpole reminded ‘im too much of Edge and Sans…

Sans…

Sans was walkin’ down the street, just like he did every day. He wore old overalls scrounged up from the free store an’ a carefree smile, but his eye lights betrayed the worry. Kid wasn’t stupid. Knew this couldn’t last.

Red’s phone rang. He glanced down and frowned when he saw it was Wings. His older brother expected results, settled for nothing less.

Red didn’t answer the phone, choosing instead to watch Sans until he was out of sight.

_ What the hell was he doin’? _


	58. Chapter Fifty-Eight

Sans was damn smart. He could take apart an entire CORE computer and put it back together better in under an hour. Just a day of watching him at the mechanic shop told Red that Sans wasn’t just computer smart. He could read people. He could joke with anyone about anything, left every customer grinning and with a hefty tip in his hands. The fish liked him, too, but Sans never answered any personal questions. Made sense.

The guy seemed permanently unruffled. One night, walking back to the inn, some drunk humans from out of town stopped him and tried to start some shit over him being a monster. Red had his magic called up, ready to blast them all to hell, but Sans just grinned up at them. He said something and the guys ended up laughing. They invited Sans for a drink with them, but he turned ‘em down and went back to the inn. Didn’t tell his bro, didn’t tell the fish or the lizard… Just grinned at dinner, told more jokes, and acted like the whole thing never happened.

Red was grudgingly impressed.

Then Sans and that spider bitch entered the bridge tournament. Sounded dumb as hell, but Red went and watched. He wasn’t as bright as Sans, but he was quick enough to know when someone’s counting cards. Sans cheated his way through an entire small town bridge tournament without getting caught or breaking a sweat.

Red was impressed, no more grudging about it.


	59. Chapter Fifty-Nine

“The Doctor is impatient, little brother. You know that the plan depends on the modifications that he is working on.”

Red gripped his phone tight enough that it creaked in his claw. “i know, wings.”

“I cannot understand how it is so difficult for you to find one rogue scientist.”

Red glanced through the window of Mama’s at Sans laughing at something. “i’ll find ‘im, bro.”

“I’ve no doubt that you would if I allowed you to look for four more months, but we are out of time. I am sending Edge to help.”

“what?! wings, i don’ need his damn help! i--”

_ “Clearly you do. _ Come get him and take him to wherever you’ve been looking. Fill him in on the search and utilize his skills. The two of you work well together.” A pause while Red tried to figure out what to say to talk him out of this. “We can’t wait any longer. We need them if we are going to overthrow the Dreemurs. It’s the only way to keep our people safe.”

“shit, wings, i know.”

“Then you should not object to Edge’s help.”

Red looked at Sans again. “yer right, wings. yer always right.”

He hung up. They needed the lab rats, yeah, but…. They didn’t  _ have to _ kill Sans and Papyrus, did they? Sans could be a real asset to the Gaster organization. He could convince Wings, he could, but not before Edge got here. He just needed more time. He needed a plan.


	60. Chapter Sixty

It was embarrassingly easy for someone with a teleportation modification to sneak some sleep shit into the mashed potatoes then wait ‘til everyone’s asleep, sneak up to Sans’s room.

It was a surprise for some dame to slip out of their room and gasp his name. Her red eyes widened--eyes only the Dreemur twins had--and he grabbed her. Used her as a hostage to get the others to cooperate. 

_ How the hell was one of the Dreemur twins alive? And how were they  _ here? 

He didn’t expect One to threaten suicide or for Sans to knock him off balance then close the door between him and the others. He didn’t expect to get so damn  _ mad. _ He didn’t expect Sans to end up limp in his hands, bruises in the shape of his fingers on his throat. 

If he could have left him there, let him stay and live and be free of him, he would have. But if Edge found him? Edge wouldn’t bother to observe him. Edge’d just kill ‘im and Red… Red couldn’t let it happen. So he picked up Sans, prepared to teleport him, and--

All hell broke loose. Sans was out of his grip and in Papyrus’s before Red could think. One of the blasters tore across his arm, the burn ticking away his HP. He bit back a growl and then was overtaken with helpless laughter. A creampuff and three rats just kicked his ass. If pops could see him now.


	61. Chapter Sixty-One

Finding them again was easy enough, what with the tracker he put on Sans’s hoodie while he was at work during that first week. The girl stuck close to them for some dumb reason, so he snagged her first. He didn’ know why the Dreemur kid was here, but he wasn’ ‘bout to let her run around unchecked. Who knew what trouble she’d bring to ‘em. The Dreemurs were trouble, every damn one of ‘em.  _ Just ask dad an’ pops. _

The blue rat was waiting outside the storefront where the tracker said they were hiding. Part of Red hoped that Sans was still unconscious so he wasn’t a part of that dumbass plan. The rat proved tough to grab, so he went for the others first. Sans’s clone was waitin’ for ‘im, blasters summoned. 

“i’m gonna beat you,” the rat said matter-of-factly.

“nah,” Red said.

“you can’ have them.”

“that’s some big talk for such a lil fella.”

It laughed, cold and hollow. “you’re not the one i have to blast.”

It was a good thing that Red had fantastic reaction times. He saw the decision in the rat’s eyes--saw that he was going to blast himself the others to dust, finish what he started in Sans’s room--and kicked him before he could. His little body skittered across the floor and bounced off of Sans’s foot. Red was careful to not look at Sans’s neck as he grabbed ‘em all and went back outside to get the last damn rat.


	62. Chapter Sixty-Two

An old bomb shelter on the outskirts of Ebbott was a safe place to stash ‘em ‘til he figured out what to do with them. It was simple: He just needed to convince Wings that Sans and Papyrus were more useful alive than dead. The lab rats had to go back to the lab, no doubts there, but Sans and Papyrus could be helpful in their organization, he was sure of it. 

_ But Wings wasn’t the easiest to convince when he already had a plan… _

“bro, i’m jus’ sayin’ that the files say Serif’s a real smart cookie.”

“Why would I need a biologist? If all goes well, we will have all of CORE labs at our disposal. He’s a liability and we can’t afford that.”

Wings leaned back in his chair and studied Red. “Why do you care so much about Serif?”

“i don’! it’s jus’ that they can be useful’s all.”

“Sans has already proven he’s an honest monster. There’s no reason to believe that he will join up with us.”

“well, if he won’, then we can jus’ kill ‘em.”

“And if he pretends to join us and then betrays us later? If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times: No one outside of this family can be trusted. You remember what happened the last time we let someone in.”

Red winced. Yeah, he wasn’t likely to forget that the Dreemurs betrayed them and killed their dads. 

Strike five. He’d try again tomorrow.


	63. Chapter Sixty-Three

“do ya remember the dreemur twins, bro?” 

Wings looked up from his work and stared at Red with that cold, calculating look. If Wings wasn’ his bro, hadn’ raised ‘im for years, he’d be terrified o’ that look. As it was, he jus’ knew better than to talk over it. “Why?”

“dunno. jus’ thinkin’ ‘bout it lately. i don’ remember ‘em. i was jus’ a kid when they died.”

Wings laughed. “Hardly. Edge was a child. You were nearly a teenager. I suppose it’s only natural to wonder about the family that tried to destroy us, hm?” He rose and glided to the bookshelf, the one where he kept their father’s things, and withdrew a black leather book. “Here, this should satisfy your curiosity. Perhaps it will motivate you to find your quarry.”

Red stiffened. “i’ll find ‘em, wings.”

“Yes. Well, you best get back to it. I’m sure Edge has grown impatient with your smoke break and I have much to do.”

“yeah, yeah.”

“I will see both of you for dinner at seven sharp. Do not be late.”

“we know, ya ol’ bone bag.”

Red landed in the stairwell of the bunker and looked through the notebook, an old journal of… Asgore Dreemur’s? As maintained by dad? A family picture of the Dreemurs fell out: A mother and father goat monster, a teenage goat monster, and two twin girls: one with red hair and one with brown. 

At least he knew which twin he was dealing with now.


	64. Chapter Sixty-Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in the bunker...

“I JUST DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW YOU SURVIVED! EVERYONE SAID THAT ALL OF THE DREEMUR CHILDREN DIED! METTATON EVEN COVERED THE FUNERAL AND EVERYONE SAYS THAT HIS PANTSUIT SPARKED A NEW ERA IN FASHION!”

Frisk stopped pushing at the joints in the door, totally disarmed by Papyrus. Everyone always was. His bro was the coolest. She pushed her bangs out of her face. “I know. It was for the best that everyone thought I was actually dead.”

“LYING IS VERY RARELY THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION, FRIEND FRISK!”

Sans snorted. “bro, you know we told her fake names, right?”

“YES! WELL! LOOK HOW THAT TURNED OUT!”

“Who gives a shit if some dead girl is alive?” Two growled. “It doesn’t get us any closer to escaping.”

“LANGUAGE, BROTHER!”

“gotta say, i’m wit’ two. it’s interestin’ an’ all, but why do i care?” Three asked lazily.

“Because my… parents… ran CORE,” she said, carefully not looking at the bitties. “They founded it years ago, back before…”

Everyone fell silent. One was the first to speak. “so yer gods damned family is the one bankrolling our torture and eventual murder?” He could have been asking about the weather for all the breeziness of his voice, the vibes only ruined by his empty sockets.

Frisk flinched. “I’d be surprised if they knew about that.”

“why’s that?” Sans asked.

“My parents haven’t really run CORE, not in a long time. Not since my sister killed Asi and took over the company.”


	65. Chapter Sixty-Five

“wasn’t your sister like 10?”

“Yes.”

“she murdered your bro and took over a multimillion-dollar company? a 10-year-old?”

“An exceptional 10-year-old. A genius. She always wanted more and didn’t care who she hurt to get it. I’d be dead too if it weren’t for Mama.”

“yeah?” Three asked, interested despite himself.

“She was our nanny. She heard Chara laughing, found her trying to slash my throat with a butcher knife.” 

“why didn’t ya just tell your parents?” Sans asked.

“Yes. I hear that parents tend to care for their offspring,” Four said.

“Not that we’d know,” Two muttered.

“yeah, yeah, everyone’s got a sob story.” Everyone spun to see Red standing behind them with a crooked grin and a couple bags of food. It was the first words he’d said to them since Sans tried to kiss him. 

“i liked you better when you weren’t talking,” Sans growled.

“SANS! DON’T BE A RUMPLED AARDVARK! THAT’S RUDE.”

“We are literally in a hostage situation,” Four said.

“‘hostage’s an ugly word. i prefer compulsory guests.” Red dropped the bags of food onto the table. When no one approached, he rolled his eye lights. “‘m not gonna bite. well, unless ya ask real nice.”

“not hungry,” Sans gritted out.

Red’s eye lights sparked. “ya ungrateful--”

“ungrateful?! you tried to kill me!”

“if i wanted ya dead, ya’d be dust!”

“tell that to the bruises on my neck, asshole!”

Red disappeared without another word.

“BROTHER! YOUR TERRIBLE MANNERS SCARED HIM OFF!”

“good!”


	66. Chapter Sixty-Six

Everyone else was asleep the next time Sans saw Red. He was too anxious to sleep; no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t see a way out. The door wouldn’t open. Three couldn’t teleport. Hell, even throwing himself at Red didn’t work. 

He shut his eyes for a second and when he opened them, Red was in front of him. A trill of fear ran down his spine. Red could take anything he wanted and there was nothing Sans could do to stop him. 

“come wit’ me.”

Despite his clawing fear, he projected calm. “yeah? and why should i?”

Red growled. “ya asked what i want. i wan’ ya to come wit’ me.”

“no.”

“i could make ya. i don’ gotta ask.”

Sans shrugged. “yep.”

Red flexed his fists like he was trying not to grab Sans by the throat again. Sans had that effect on people. “ya rather i take yer bro?” 

Checkmate, and the bastard knew it. Sans stood up. Red stiffened like he was expecting an attack, like Sans could hurt him. Ha. Sans started to move towards his death, but

“where’re ya goin’, asshole?”

One leaned against the doorframe. His eye lights flicked over Sans and Sans thought he saw a flash of concern. Aw.

“takin’ a walk, algernon. ‘e’ll be back in the mornin’.”

“nah.”

Red laughed. “like ya can stop me.”

“ya gonna kill ‘im? i’d like to tell his bro.”

Red snarled, then grabbed Sans’s arm, dragging him into darkness.


	67. Sixty-Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be traveling tomorrow and likely won't have internet, so you get two chapters today! Yay? Anyway, I will be back to the normal one-a-day posting schedule on Wednesday :)
> 
> *TW: Fear of non-con/rape -- This DOES NOT happen and is not graphic, but Sans has concerns. Be safe. If you need me to summarize, just reach out!*

Sans stumbled out of the teleport into a dark alley. It felt like every fear he’d had was coming true; Red took him somewhere no one would hear him scream, somewhere dark, somewhere he could do anything and leave Sans’s used-up body for some poor schmuck to find. He shoved himself off the gangster, biting back a gasp as he slammed into the wall.

Huge hands were on him in an instant. “the hell ya doin’?! yer gonna hurtcha self!”

“why? wanna save all the hurting me for yourself?” Sans growled.

Red’s eye lights shrank and he looked… actually angry? Somehow? “‘m not gonna hurt ya, ok? i jus’ wanna…” Red trailed off, then sighed. “i got somethin’ ta show ya.”

Sans’s sockets widened. “is it your dick? cause i’d like to pass, thanks.” He really shouldn’t antagonize the mobster holding him in a dark alley, but if Red was gonna… well, he wanted to at least make it clear he wasn’t into it. 

Red’s eye lights flared an angry crimson. After a tense second, he laughed. “well, shit sweetheart, ya don’ mind tellin’ a fella how ya really feel, do ya?”

“i’ve got more opinions about you. if you want to hear them.”

Red chuckled, deep and dangerous. “nah, lessay ya keep ‘em to yerself for a bit. i’d hate ta get mad an’...” He trailed off as his hand drifted towards Sans’s throat. Sans stiffened, but forced himself not to back up.

“‘m not gonna hurtcha, sansy.”

“sure.”


	68. Sixty-Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is tomorrow's chapter since I will be out of town. Enjoy, and I'll be back on Wednesday!

Red wasn’t totally lying: he didn’t hurt Sans in that alley. He linked arms with Sans like they were off to see the damn wizard of oz and led him out onto a busier street. There were people everywhere; the sun was out despite the darkness of the alley. Sans was close enough to them to ask for help, to touch, to--

“don’ get any ideas, sansy. yer bro’s still in the bunker.”

Sans walked in silence. Red told him little tidbits about the city, stuff that Sans might’ve found interesting if he wasn’t on the arm of his kidnapper. As it was, Sans couldn’t of told you anything Red said, not a word.

Red led him through a little park, one with a pond and ducks. Sans wouldn’t of even noticed them if Red didn’t point them out. “we can feed ‘em on the way back. if ya wan’,” Red suggested, pointing to the little ducklings.

Sans shrugged. Red’s grip tightened for a moment, but let up and Red chuckled again. “don’ like ducks?”

“don’ like you.”

Red growled, but otherwise ignored the comment.

The park led up to a large gate, one with wrought iron animals worked into it. Sans didn’t recognize it. Luckily, he didn’t have to ask. “one o’ the gaster family investments,” Red said, unlocking the gate. He led Sans inside, plucking a brochure from a kiosk on the way in. He handed it to Sans.

A map of a zoo?

“whaddya wanna see, sweetheart?”


End file.
